A new path to happiness
by emilyerin22
Summary: Watch Sam and Andy embark on a journey to find personal happiness and happiness together. Starts from season 1. Canon facts.


**Prologue**

Sam was lying on the bed. His emotions were running wild. He had never been so happy, yet at the same time, he felt confused. There were so many things standing in his way. Andy wasn't even sure how she felt. Sam was about to grab a quick shower when he heard a soft knock on the door. With out looking in the peep hole he opened the door and his eyes lit up. "Andy,"

"You promised me dessert."

"W-what?"

"Dessert. I want ice cream, and you did promise me some."

"Lead the way," Sam grinned. She was gonna be the death of him. He knew it. They were toying with a very thin line here.

When they finished their ice cream Sam led Andy back to the taxi. He couldn't help but think what was in store for them. Meeting the way they did and developing a connection as strong as they did, was that even possible? Either way, Sam, knew that they were dancing a fine line here. There was not even a guarantee of a future here. But he couldn't just walk away. She had literally knocked him down and turned his world upside down. But he couldn't leave.

Andy noticed Sam staring at her. It wasn't creepy. He had a glow to him. "What are you thinking about?"

Sam smirked at the brunette in front of him, "We're dancing a real fine line."

Her brow furrowed as she considered all her options. They were dangerously close to crossing some kind of line. There were still many unknowns. She still didn't know what she was going to do. She just met Sam, yet she could not describe the feelings he was giving her. She could not ignore. "But you don't mind crossing that line?"

Sam's eyes widened; clearly they have been thinking about the same thing. He'd wanted to have this conversation later, maybe back at the hotel. He glanced over at her and offered what he hoped was a friendly expression before he asked a question that caused a swirl of nerves to unfurl in his gut, "What if there was no line? What would be different if the line had never been there?"

Andy had a proverbial deer in the headlights expression on her face as she tried to rationally consider if she could even come up with an answer to his question. What would be different? She didn't have any answer, except that she was finally at a place where it would be harder to stay behind the line than to just step over it.

"Because I've been thinking a lot about that line, Andy," He could tell that maybe this wasn't the best time to be talking about this, but the moment had presented itself and he was sure he couldn't create a better opportunity. He plunged ahead when she didn't say anything, "At the time I thought it was a good idea...I thought somehow thought it would protect you. I never expected to share a connection with you. I never expected to feel what I feel."

"A line is a very difficult thing to cross, Sam," Andy looked at him carefully as the taxi negotiated his way into the parking lot of the hotel. Once they stepped over that line they really couldn't go back, not to the way things had always been. If they crossed over that line, everything would change, for the both of them.

"It's a line, Andy," There was the smallest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of Sam's mouth as he continued, "You just step right over it." He hadn't really articulate what he was feeling about her or even what he specifically wanted to happen between them, but he was sure now that they were thinking about the same thing. And even if she needed more time to consider all of this, it was only a matter of time before she realized that the line they'd been talking about had already disappeared behind them quite a while ago; something that he could only see clearly now that they were finally almost ready to admit to each other what they'd been denying since the second they laid eyes on each other.

A light rain was falling as they climbed out of the taxi to head into the hotel. Sam took her silence as an indication that she needed to think about all of this a little more. Inwardly he cheered because it meant that she hadn't completely rejected the idea. If she needed time to have rational conversations with herself inside of her mind he was confident that she would eventually see that the only logical option was to obliterate that line altogether. He glanced over and smiled at the way her brow was furrowed in thought; however, he didn't expect her to stop suddenly and look at him as if she had come to a conclusion already.

Andy didn't even really notice the rain as she looked at Sam, logically there was only one conclusion that she could come to, even if that conclusion was by its very nature completely irrational. And now that she'd arrived at her course of action, it was only natural to communicate it to Sam. She didn't want this to be just another fling, either. "So how would you propose we cross the line?"

A smile stole over Sam's face and he let out a soft chuckle even though he could tell that she was perfectly serious, "It's not a negotiation, Andy." Of course he should have expected this; neither one of them really knew how to take things beyond where they were.

"I'm not trying to negotiate," Andy felt a bit flustered; this wasn't easy for her. She had considered everything and had come to the conclusion that she couldn't ignore what she was feeling for Sam and now that he had made it clear that the line didn't have to be there and that he was willing to cross it, she wanted to be clear on everything.

The rain was falling a little harder now and neither one of them seemed to really notice.

"We can cross it any way we like," Sam wanted to make absolutely certain that she really wanted this as much as he did and he took a step towards her trying to gauge her reaction as he did. She had the most open expression on her face and Sam's heart did a flip as he realized that she trusted him; she trusted him not to break her heart.

Andy could feel her heart rate begin to speed up. "Are we crossing it right now?" She could feel her heart begin to beat faster.

Sam nodded and then a grin spread across his face as he stood right in front of her, "I'm pretty sure that now would be a very good time." He was somewhat oblivious to the steady drizzle of rain that was falling as he reached out to brush a bit of Andy's hair out of her face. He wanted to etch this moment firmly in his memory, especially the way she was looking at him. He felt like more of a man with Andy looking at him like that.

She was almost ready to launch herself at him when her eyes fluttered shut of their own accord and she felt a simple press of his lips against hers. It was only then that she realized that it was raining because she could taste it on his lips. She found herself gripping the edges of his jacket wanting to make this kiss last for as long as possible and she could feel his fingers sliding into her hair and an arm slipping around her waist pulling her even closer.

He was kissing Andy. The line was gone. He was kissing Andy. Her lips were so soft. Did she just whimper? The line was gone. Sam was trying to file away every little bit of this kiss so that he could pull it out later and replay it in his mind. Just when he was about to pull away, she pulled him back in.

Now that she'd crossed the line, she wanted to make sure that there weren't any chance it would ever be drawn again. Andy deepened the kiss and wondered how the rain could be so warm in the middle of December; or maybe it wasn't the rain at all.

Sam rested his forehead against hers as he finally broke the kiss, "We should have done that a long time ago."

Andy couldn't help but smile at his confession, "I'm sure if we had, things wouldn't have turned out well." She hadn't been ready before now even though in retrospect she'd felt something for Sam that went far beyond friendly. Her denial had blinded her for a long time to what was standing before her and maybe that had been a good thing. She hadn't been ready for it.

"Yeah, your're probably right," Sam winked as he leaned in for another kiss.

It was when the rain was coming down in sheets a few moments later that Andy realized that they probably should get out of the weather, no matter how much she was enjoying this monumental, line-crossing, make out session. She had a delighted smile on her face as she pulled away from Sam, "We should go inside." She was soaking wet and right now all she wanted to do was take a nice long hot soak in that tub in her room and think about what had just happened between her and Sam. He didn't strike her as the kind of man that was going to march her right back to her hotel suite and have his way with her, and while she was certainly not shy about sex, she was glad. She really needed to give herself a little time to let this sink in before they took the next step.

"Hey Sam," Andy smiled. "There's no going back."

**A/N:** So I think that came out better than I expected. Hang with me, we now go back and see how they got to this moment and where they go from this moment. The timetable for all of this will make sense in the next chapter.


End file.
